Brookes new light-middle Master by Ian McNeilly May 4th 2007

Mexborough's Stuart Brookes came out on top against Barnsley's Lee Noble in a South Yorkshire needle match for the British Masters light-middleweight title last night (Thursday). Richard Poxon's man came out a 99-92 winner on Mickey Vann's card after ten ugly rounds at Sheffield's Don Valley Stadium. Vann warned the pair after about ten seconds of action; Ingle-trained Noble for holding and Brookes for hitting on the break. The infringements were to continue throughout with much holding, rabbit punching and liberal use of the head, most – but certainly not all – by Noble. It was one of those fights where the pattern was set immediately and one sensed it would remain throughout. Noble, as usual, boxed off the back foot leading to Brookes being the aggressor throughout. When Brookes got close, Noble would spoil, leading to the Mexborough man (and his typically vocal following) becoming frustrated. This wouldn't have been so bad had Noble taken advantage of Brookes' frustration but he simply didn't do enough of his own work and was overly concerned with smothering his opponent's. Brendan Ingle read Noble the riot act in Leeds recently when he didn't seem too bothered about fighting (an uninspiring points loss against Mark Thompson) and although this wasn't a similarly pallid effort, it must be a frustrating experience being in his corner. Whenever he opened up, he showed better quality than Brookes. But it's difficult to win when you punch in brief spurts. In contrast, Brookes never stopped punching, even though much of his aggression was rendered ineffective by Noble. I gave Lee the third round when he held less and worked more and a share of the fourth but the latter point advantage was scrubbed when Noble was penalised for two blatant rabbit punches. Other than that, the rounds belonged to Brookes. It might be too simplistic to say he just wanted it more but it certainly appeared that way. A minor shock on the undercard came when Sheffield cruiserweight Jon Ibbotson was stopped in the fourth round by big-hearted Oldham man Darren Stubbs. ‘Ibbo' showed good footwork, an excellent jab and precise left hook to the body in the first round though I gave Stubbs a share for his efforts as his aggression paid some dividends. The second was a strange round. After measured boxing in the first, Ibbotson came out as if Henry V had given him the between rounds pep talk and launched a fierce, sustained, two-fisted attack on Stubbs, pinning him to the ropes. He whaled away for what seemed like ages but Stubbs rode out the storm. Ibbotson then simply reverted to his boxing, switching stance comfortably. Ibbotson once almost ran out of gas against Rob Burton and squeaked a draw (Ibbo explained this was down to late weight loss and stopped Rob in a rematch) and at the start of the third it seemed apparent that his efforts had again drained him. This time it was Stubbs' turn to pin Ibbotson on the ropes, though the Poxon man fought back well. Stubbs sensed a win and went for it in the fourth. Two big right hooks were shipped on the ropes by Ibbo and a third crashed in. Trapped and offering nothing in return, Vann waved it off at what, given the poor acoustics, sounded like 2:14. Ibbo could have easily outboxed Stubbs but went to war. Poor decision and the Oldham man was rightly chuffed. You've got to feel for the Isle of Wight's only pro boxer Jay Morris. Known more for dinghies than ding-ding, Morris' path to the pro game must have been harder many. Travelling up from south with trainer Jim Evans, Morris hardly had a chance to get going against former British welterweight champion David Barnes, who was in an unusually spiteful mood. A big right hook hurt Morris, sending him to the ropes on shaky legs. Barnes, often ponderous in the past, unloaded. Vann gave Morris a chance but a couple of hard digs found the target and the referee's stoppage at 0:59 of the first was well timed. Talking of class, Fight Academy protégé Nicki ‘Nightmare' Smedley positively oozed it against Northampton trier David Kehoe. At times, it was brutal to watch. Kehoe's regular attempts to find the target were made to look crude and he even smiled, perhaps in embarrassment, about how far he was from the mark. The worst thing Kehoe did was actually tag Smedley, which he did midway through the first round with a left hook. This just annoyed the switch-hitting youngster. A right hook to the side of Kehoe's head dumped him on his shorts, though he rose immediately, smiling again. In one of the most impressive combinations I've seen thrown in a long time, Smedley opened up with blistering speed in the second and a straight right had Kehoe down in a neutral corner. On rising, Kehoe was illegally thrown to the canvas then a very legal left uppercut from Smedley caught Kehoe flush and he sunk to a knee after a delayed reaction. The contest was only going one way and I felt Michael Alexander could have stopped it here but Smedley was given more time to showcase his talents. In the third, an increasingly desperate Kehoe was warned for use of the head. A right hook put Kehoe down again in the fourth yet the bout still progressed, to be finally halted when another right had the visitor stumbling. Time, 2:51. Impressive stuff and the best I've seen from Smedley who continues to improve. He now returns to Vegas to box on the undercard of Hatton-Castillo on June 23rd. Smedley should have already boxed there once but circumstances conspired against him and he ended up boxing a brief exhibition instead. Scott Brookes, brother of Stuart and also trained by namesake Mark, took a bit of a risk in taking on Lancaster heavyweight David Ingleby. Six pounds inside the cruiser limit at 13st 10lbs, he gave away 43lbs to Ingleby, who (for the mathematically challenged) weighed in at 16st 11lbs. It almost cost Brookes dearly. Early in the first a short right hand seemed to hurt Brookes who showed enough nous to hold on. I scored this session even but gave the next three to Brookes who boxed very nicely and even rode a big left hook from Ingleby in the fourth. The Mexborough boxer was making Ingleby look slow but one had the feeling that if the bigger man connected, the cruiserweight would really feel it. Brookes, in only his second pro fight, couldn't resist getting involved and he shipped a left hook which put him down. Ingleby followed up with a right and then a left hook which was landing with alarming regularity. Brookes showed great heart and fought back well. The left hook worked again in the sixth and last but Ingleby was too tired to take advantage. I had Brookes winning 58-57 but referee Alexander had it wider at 58-55. In the show opener, Ingle youngster Adam Kelly impressed against Tamworth's Matthew Seawright. Typical bull against matador fare, Kelly bamboozled the rugged Midlander from the off. A right hook, half-slip saw Seawright on the canvas in the second. Matthew chased and chased but couldn't do much with the elusive, nappy wearing Kelly, although he did tag him at the end of the third to remind him of his presence. A 40-35 win for the switch-hitting ‘Outlaw'.

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